Government schemes & initiatives

Answer: (a) Certifying the skills acquired by construction workers through traditional channels.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) gives a formal certificate to people who already have a skill learnt on the job or from family, without a formal course. Its first pilot was run for construction workers by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, and it later became a component of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).

• ✓ (a) The Ministry of Labour and Employment launched an RPL pilot in the construction sector to certify skills that informal workers had picked up through experience or other non-formal channels.
• ✗ (d) RPL is meant for people who were never formally trained; trainees who finish a formal skill course are assessed and certified under that course itself, not under 'prior learning'.
• ✗ (b) RPL has nothing to do with university admission or distance education; it assesses existing workplace skills against national occupational standards.

Remember · RPL = certifying skills already learnt informally (on the job, in the family). Piloted for construction workers; now a component of PMKVY under the Skill Development ministry.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 only

Smart India Hackathon is a competition, not a scheme or a digitisation target: ministries post real problems and student teams build technology solutions to them. The first edition, SIH 2017, was held on 1–2 April 2017 with 598 problem statements from 29 ministries and departments.

• ✗ 1. The hackathon builds no cities. The centrally sponsored programme for urban renewal is the separate Smart Cities Mission, which covers 100 selected cities, not every city.
• ✓ 2. Its stated aim is to give students a platform to solve pressing everyday problems and to build a culture of product innovation, using problem statements set by government departments.
• ✗ 3. The hackathon sets no target for digital payments; promoting cashless transactions was the work of other initiatives such as Digital India and UPI-based payments.

Remember · Smart India Hackathon (first held 1–2 April 2017): students solve problem statements posted by ministries; a hunt for tech innovations, not a scheme.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

The National Nutrition Mission (later POSHAN Abhiyaan) targets malnutrition among children, pregnant women and lactating mothers, and sets yearly targets to cut stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia and low birth weight. It works through convergence of schemes and a people's movement for awareness; promoting particular foods such as millets or eggs was not among its stated objectives.

• ✓ 1. The Mission targets the nutrition of children up to 6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers, and involves the public through a Jan Andolan to spread awareness about nutrition.
• ✓ 2. It aims to reduce anaemia among young children, women and adolescent girls by 3% a year, alongside stunting, under-nutrition and low birth weight.
• ✗ 3. Promoting millets, coarse cereals and unpolished rice was not an objective of the Mission as framed; they concern food-grain policy.
• ✗ 4. Encouraging the consumption of poultry eggs was not a stated objective of the Mission.
• • Since then Since then, under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, the guidelines require millets to be served at Anganwadis at least once a week (PIB, 2023).

Remember · National Nutrition Mission / POSHAN Abhiyaan: cut stunting, under-nutrition and low birth weight by 2% a year and anaemia (children, women, adolescent girls) by 3% a year; convergence plus Jan Andolan.

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Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

The e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), launched in 2016, is a pan-India online portal that links regulated mandis. Because buyers across the country can bid on assayed produce, a farmer reaches a nationwide market and better quality can fetch a better price. Both statements are correct.

• ✓ 1. The Union Government launched e-NAM in 2016 as a pan-India online portal connecting mandis and regulated market yards.
• ✓ 2. Linking mandis on one electronic platform lets traders from other markets bid, with quality testing of produce, so farmers get wider access and prices that reflect quality.

Remember · e-NAM (2016): pan-India electronic trading portal networking APMC mandis into a unified national market for farm produce.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Economic Development, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

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Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Neither statement is correct. The first APMCHUD was indeed held in New Delhi in December 2006, but its theme was 'A vision for sustainable urbanisation in the Asia-Pacific by 2020'. The conference is biennial and is hosted by different countries, not held annually in India.

• ✗ 1. The inaugural conference met in New Delhi on 13–16 December 2006. Its official theme was 'A vision for sustainable urbanisation in the Asia-Pacific by 2020', not 'Emerging Urban Forms'.
• ✗ 2. The Delhi Declaration of 2006 made it a biennial conference that normally meets every two years, and Iran offered to host the next one. Later editions were held in Solo, Amman, Seoul and New Delhi, so India does not host them all. The statement's partnership with ADB, APEC and ASEAN is also not part of the arrangement.

Remember · APMCHUD: inter-governmental forum for Asia-Pacific housing ministers, launched at New Delhi in December 2006 (theme: sustainable urbanisation by 2020); meets every two years, hosted by different countries.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Neither statement is correct. The National Career Service (NCS) belongs to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, not the Department of Personnel and Training, and it is an employment-service platform for all job seekers, not a scheme aimed at uneducated youth.

• ✗ 1. NCS is a project of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, run through its Directorate General of Employment. It does not belong to the Department of Personnel and Training.
• ✗ 2. Although NCS is indeed a Mission Mode Project, it is meant to transform the National Employment Service into a portal for career counselling, vocational guidance, skill courses, apprenticeships and job matching for all job seekers. It is not restricted to uneducated youth.

Remember · NCS (launched 20 July 2015) is a Mission Mode Project of the Ministry of Labour and Employment that turns employment exchanges into career centres and offers an online job portal.

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Answer: (b) 3 only

The Soil Health Card Scheme aims at soil-test-based fertiliser use: each farmer gets a card showing the nutrient status of the soil and the dosages to apply, which discourages overuse. It is not an irrigation scheme and it is not a tool for bank lending.

• ✗ 1. Expanding the area under assured irrigation is the aim of a different scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (launched 2015-16). A soil health card only reports what nutrients the soil has.
• ✗ 2. The card gives nutrient recommendations to the farmer. None of the scheme's stated objectives concerns banks assessing loan amounts from soil quality.
• ✓ 3. The card lets a farmer apply only the recommended dosage of nutrients, and the scheme was designed to correct deficiencies and wasteful fertiliser practices, so it checks overuse.

Remember · Soil Health Card (launched 2015): a soil-test report for each farmer, with crop-wise nutrient advice. It is meant to promote balanced fertiliser use, not irrigation or credit.

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Answer: (a) 2 only

Vidyanjali is a school volunteer programme that brings community and private-sector volunteers into government schools to improve the quality of learning. It has nothing to do with foreign university campuses, and it works through volunteers' time, skills and materials, not cash donations.

• ✗ 1. Vidyanjali concerns volunteers in government schools. It has no link to foreign educational institutions opening campuses in India.
• ✓ 2. The programme, launched in June 2016, involves volunteers from different walks of life in government schools and rests on the idea that community engagement improves the quality of learning.
• ✗ 3. The Vidyanjali guidelines define a volunteer's contribution as non-monetary, in the form of service or of assets, materials or equipment. Money is not accepted through the platform.

Remember · Vidyanjali (launched June 2016): a school volunteer programme that brings community and private-sector volunteers into government schools. Contributions are non-monetary.

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Answer: (b) Connecting institutions of higher education with local communities to address development challenges through appropriate technologies.

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan links higher educational institutions with villages so that they use their knowledge to help solve local development problems. Its stated aim is to bring suitable technologies and solutions from institutions to rural communities.

• ✓ (b) The Ministry of HRD (now Education) flagship programme links each participating institution with at least five villages so it can contribute to their economic and social betterment. It also seeks to identify, customise and apply technologies for local needs.
• ✗ (a) UBA is not a literacy campaign and does not centre on voluntary organisations; the partners are higher educational institutions.
• ✗ (c) UBA does not aim at strengthening research institutions as such. It sends knowledge from institutions out to villages.
• ✗ (d) UBA is not a funding scheme for health care and education of the poor. Its channel is higher educational institutions working with adopted villages; skill training is only one of the ways they help.

Remember · Unnat Bharat Abhiyan: higher educational institutions adopt villages (at least five each) and help solve local problems with appropriate technology.

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